Pour Lâcher L'amour
by silver.wings.34
Summary: I'm with you. I love you." She let a rueful smile slip into place, “No, you aren’t. No you don’t.” After Man in the Cell, Cam's done being in denial.BB
1. Chapter 1

This one takes place after _Man in the Cell_. I'm not in love with it, but let me know what you think. As usual, I don't own the characters, just this story.

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She heard his soft footsteps as he came in the room. Opening her eyes, Dr. Camille Saroyan smiled as Seeley Booth took a seat next to her bed, putting the vase of white daisies on the table next to her. His expression was a mix of worry and guilt as he took her hand, never quite looking her in the eye. He rubbed light circles by her thumb as he stared at their joint hands, lost in thought.

"It's not your fault, Seeley," she croaked out, reading him easily. His eyes shot up to her face at this, his expression bent in pain.

"How can it not be?" He asked, the rubbing on her hand becoming quicker as he became more agitated.

"I told you before, it was Epps. Not you," she supplied, "He was after Brennan, which means coming after you."

"I know he was after Bones, but I'm just her partner. You're my girlfriend," he replied earnestly, suddenly feeling like he was back in high school, convincing his girl that "Cindy" from the squad wasn't going to come between them.

"Which is why the poison hitting me worked better than he anticipated," she finished quickly. Cam sighed internally as she slowly put together the pieces of his various expressions throughout the ordeal. She simply couldn't sit in denial any longer. She took a breath to steel herself for what she had to say next.

"Seeley, this isn't because of today," she started, watching as his eyes clouded over in apprehension and guilt (though he did try to hide it. He knew how much she hated his guilt), "but we should stop this."

His eyebrows knitted together in surprise and the finger on her hand stopped rubbing those soothing circles. She stared into his brown eyes and almost lost her resolve, though she did continue.

"You and I both know that deranged serial killers are the least of our worries."

"What do you mean Camille," he questioned, pleading edging its way into his voice, "I'm with _you_, I love_ you_."

Cam let a rueful smile slip into place while she patted his hand softly, "No, you aren't. No you don't."

She supplied each of these answers to him while his eyes remained wide, indignant answers not quite reaching past his throat.

"You told me before. 'You're with Dr. Brennan all the way'," she stated this as a fact, like her coworker would have; instead of like the broken ex-girlfriend she may have been once. Booth tried to protest, gripping her hand a little tighter, his guilty conscience weighing on him. She stopped him, wanting to get everything out.

"It's ok," she reassured him. And it was. She realized she felt better, good even, about this, if only slightly cracked. "We knew there was always a chance for this to happen," she said, motioning to the hospital machines decorating her room. "'High risk situations' as you used to say. But, I think the only 'high risk' for you, is missing out on her."

"Look Cam," he started, every apology written on his face.

"I know," she responded softly. And she did. She knew he felt bad about everything, but their half-hearted relationship didn't serve her any better than it did him. His hand reached up to cup her cheek, then moved up to shift her bangs out of the way as he laid a soft, final kiss there. They locked gazes one more time and both took in what the other couldn't say.

As he walked towards the door, Camille Saroyan (_Doctor_ Camille Saroyan her inner voice added impishly) settled lower into her pillows, a soft smile on her face. Those two would figure it out eventually. Until then, she'd talk to Hodgins about getting in on a certain betting pool.


	2. Chapter 2

I know the story was supposed to be a oneshot, but after ILoveBooth requested another chapter, I couldn't resist letting this thought circle through my head.

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As Seeley Booth lifted his son, Parker onto the carousel, his mind was everywhere but the park on a Saturday morning. After his incident with Cam the previous night, he couldn't stop the problems and possibilities from circling in his head. Exiting the ride area, he spotted his partner and they made their way over to a bench nearby.

When she commented about him always "making things right", he couldn't help but grimace slightly. Having your girlfriend dump you because you may or may not have feelings for someone else wasn't exactly _making things right_. He abstained from commenting, but she then brought up the one subject he was hoping to avoid.

"Cam gets released from the hospital today," she said, equal parts question and statement. Guilt washed over him and he paused before replying. He knew it wasn't quick, or light, enough of an answer and she looked over at him. Cocking her head in the way he found so infuriatingly delightful, she questioned him, knowing something was amiss.

"You know, what happened to Cam happened because we had a personal relationship," he started, not quite looking at her, trying to avoid touching her.

"Had," she asked, trying to prompt him on.

"Yea, people who work in high risk situations, they can't be involved romantically because it leads to things like what happened," he continued slowly, deliberately avoiding the details of his break up. He knew his guilt about the end of his relationship was evident in every jerky movement he made, but he hoped she chalked it up to guilt over Epps or the case in general.

"High risk situations," she repeated with a slight understanding smile on her lips.

"Every single day it's with us. There's this line," he punctuated his point with his hands, "and we can't cross it, you know what I'm saying?" He knew the speech was more for himself than for her, but he had the panicky feeling he always got when he thought of something happening to her because of him.

"Yes. I understand," she said, flicking her eyes to him. He had the distinct feeling she understood more than her simple statement implied. She sighed deeply and they went back to watching Parker on the carousel.

"He seems alright now," she observed, bumping his shoulder with her own. Booth shifted away slightly, another wave of guilt washing over him as his mind watched Cam telling him it was ok that he wanted Brennan. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he watched his son go by.

"Yea well, you know, it's important to make things right. I just don't know how."

He knew that she knew he wasn't just talking about Parker, but how could he begin to explain the tangled situation they were all in. He wanted to make things right with Cam, wanted to not want his partner in the way that he did, but he just didn't know how.

"You will," she said after a while.

"Yea," he replied noncommittally.

_Then again_, he thought, _maybe it's easier to lie._

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A/N: Ok, so I know in the original scene, she doesn't respond to him after he says "I just don't know how" but that just didn't sit with me as an ending for this story. Let me know what you think!

Oh, and this chapter, scene, whatever, was inspired by the song "Easier to Lie" by Aqualung. Great song, check it out!


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